Why Micro Learning Is The Future of Workplace Training

Micro learning is a way of teaching and delivering content to learners in small, very specific bursts. The learners are in control of what and when they’re learning. The average attention span of most people today is 90 seconds. Micro learning is now essential more than ever before!

How do you get your news these days? If you get the paper off of the driveway every morning and read it with your coffee, you are in a small minority. You may catch the early morning news on TV while you get dressed; you may get some news tidbits on the radio while you drive to work; or you may, like a growing majority, turn to the internet for short snippets of news, using your smartphone or tablet. This is an example of micro learning, and we engage in it every day.

If organizations want to attract, develop and retain talent in this generation, they have to adapt to their audience. Traditional teaching and learning has got to go. Employees are no different in their desire and need for information. More and more, however, they see long training sessions, workshops, and huge manuals to read as outdated and tedious

Micro Learning Is The Workplace Learning Strategy

What employees crave is short spurts of learning in bite-sized chunks that they can engage in on their own time. They are not opposed to training and new learning – they just want more control about how and when they do it. Employers need to respond to the truth that technology can meet these employee needs and wants, and that micro-learning will be cheaper, more efficient, and, ultimately, more effective. Here are the ways in which organizations can build great and efficient micro learning material :

Assign One Learning Objective Per AssetWe define a Learning Objective by what the learner will do or know after they consume the asset. So focus on just one learning objective so the learner will know exactly what they need to focus on to ensure knowledge is transferred. The more objectives you try to introduce, the longer your content will be. Ultimately, you’ll lose your audience.

Use Video70 percent of Millennials (younger generation, 25 yrs old and below) visit YouTube monthly. They simply prefer video over other mediums.

Production Quality MattersTechnology has made it so nearly everyone has the ability to create video – whether it’s on a smartphone, tablet or a professional camera. But bad video can take away from good content. It doesn’t take much to enhance your video quality without spending a lot of money. Try using natural light from a window, shoot in a quite room, and set up your camera slightly above your eye level.

Timing is EverythingMicro learning videos should be 4 minutes or less. Learners want to get straight to the point. When creating scripts for video, a good rule of thumb to follow is 120 words for every minute of video. Making a short, content-rich video requires the ability to self-edit. If your scripting assets, take a good look at the content, and eliminate ALL the fluff. If your content is still longer than 4 minutes, you’re probably breaking the first commandment.

Prove Learning Took PlaceWhen you build your content, think about how you will know learning took place. Instead of just asking them to answer a couple multiple choice questions, ask them to demonstrate their knowledge. For example, If you’re teaching personal branding, you could ask learners to send a video of themselves delivering a 30-second elevator speech. This not only allows to prove learning took place, but also creates the opportunity for coaching and improvement.

Micro-learning is now a way of life in the Information Age that we are in, and so should be an essential for organizations that want to get ahead and effectively communicate with their employees. Gone are the days of consuming large volume books and hand-outs, byte-sized learning is here to stay.